Is Antivirus Really Necessary for Linux?

The short answer to the question posed above is yes, absolutely. To expand on this answer, look no further than these two recent pieces of malware:

XBash Malware

Towards the end of last month, the cybercriminal group known as Iron (also called Rocke) unleashed XBash, a particularly treacherous new malware strain. After a thorough analysis, security researchers from Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 have now released their findings. Part of what makes XBash so deadly is that its threat is four-fold:

Botnets- The heart of XBash, Rocke designed its malware to use infected Linux systems to search for unpatched web applications to exploit.

Ransomware- XBash destroys Linux-based databases under the guise of restoring them once a ransom is paid. However, no such restoration capabilities have been found, meaning that even if victims paid the Iron group, their data would still be lost.

Coinmining- XBash leeches the processing power of an infected Windows systems to mine for cryptocurrency, causing the system to become sluggish and potentially even crash.

Worms- XBash is self-propagating, which means it can use the network it has infected to replicate and spread itself to other systems.

Kodi Add-On Malware

Kodi is an open source media player that plays content using various add-ons—some provided by Kodi, others by third-party outlets. It was recently discovered that some of these third-party add-ons were draining the power on both Windows and Linux systems to mine for the cryptocurrency known as Monero. This is the second publicly known case of malware being distributed with Kodi add-ons.

Preventing Attacks

The number one suggestion on how to protect yourself against these attacks? Having a powerful security system in place for your environment. As evidenced by these two new pieces of malware, the myth that Linux is immune to viruses could not be further from the truth. In reality, Linux is becoming a lucrative target since so many organizations use Linux for their powerful server-side operations, as well as for storing critical sensitive data.

Linux antivirus solutions are more necessary than ever. Take these threats seriously with a solution that offers battle-tested technology, advanced predictive analysis, detection, quarantine and cleaning. Powertech Antivirus offers the power and protection of the industry leading scan engines while supporting the specific features of your Linux operating system.

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About the Author

Bob has more than two decades of Linux, Unix, and Windows experience. He has implemented security solutions for government, healthcare, and other corporate entities covering a wide variety of technologies, including RDBMS, communications, web services, and E911.